Readers have just under three days left to register for 2012’s Call-on Congress at the $25 early bird rate. Call- on Congress, sponsored and coordinated by Fight Colorectal Cancer, unites patients and caregivers affected by the disease in an annual Capitol Hill lobbying effort aimed at securing funding for colorectal cancer research and screening programs. The next Call-on Congress is March 5-7, 2012.
Readers who register before midnight, Dec. 31, will save $15 off the lobbying event’s regular $40 registration. When possible, Fight Colorectal Cancer also provides scholarships to patient attendees to help defray the travel and hotel costs of attending the event. The host hotel for Call-on Congress 2012 is the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, VA.
Advocates who attend the face-to-face lobbying effort will spend two days in Washington, D.C. learning first-hand how citizen lobbying works. Topics covered will include training in:
- how to approach their representatives and senators on the Hill and back at home
- the latest information about numbers of Americans affected by colorectal cancer
- the status of on-going and new research funded by grants from Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Lisa fund
- information about federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense
- information about the Department of Defense’s Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program
Call-on Congress 2012 includes an opening session on Monday, Mar. 5, and a day of presentations and practice discussing the critical federal budget requests affecting funding for colorectal cancer research and screening. Then on Wednesday, Mar. 7, each advocate meets with his congressional representative and senators. Lobby day wraps up with a celebration dinner at the host hotel.
During the training and lobbying period, advocates have the opportunity to network with other patients and caregivers from across the U.S. The advocates typically attend the face-to-face meetings on the Hill as delegations, so that experienced advocates can mentor first-time attendees.
Fight Colorectal Cancer, based in Alexandria, VA, coordinates legislative lobbying throughout the year by staying in contact with the advocates who attend each Call-on Congress. In 2011, for the first time, FightCRC coordinated a virtual (telephone and email) Call-on Congress on lobbying day to enable advocates who were unable to travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the lobbying effort. Call-on Congress 2011 included over 60 advocates who met with their congressmen on Capitol Hill. When combined with the virtual effort, all 50 states were represented and helped to put a face on colorectal cancer.
Early bird registration for Call-on Congress ends at midnight, Saturday, Dec. 31. Regular registration will end in late February, 2012.
Source: Fight Colorectal Cancer
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